10 Tips for Packing Light

The tighter and flatter you can get your stuff inside your bag, the more space you'll have for more stuff. Rolling, or better yet, bundle-wrapping your clothes, in which you wrap garments tightly around a central core object, will do the trick. For some detailed instructions on bundle-wrapping, check out travel expert Doug Dyment's Web site [source: Dyment]. Julie Morgenstern, author of "Organizing From the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Organizing Your Home, Your Office, and Your Life" recommends another nifty approach: Compartmentalize by using a set of fabric-mesh packing cubes, which you can buy for less than $30 online [source: Morgenstern].

Back-breaking Bags

Packing heavy has serious disadvantages. In 2007, more than 50,000 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms, doctors' offices and clinics for injuries related to carrying luggage, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission [source: AAOS].